The Icehouse launches new tech startup accelerator

Auckland based company, The Icehouse — which offers a range of services and facilities designed to help business grow — has launched a new program, Flux Accelerator, supported by Callaghan Innovation that will invest between $20,000-$100,000 into each of six to eight early-stage technology companies.

The Icehouse claims Flux Accelerator differs from other startup accelerators in New Zealand. “It is designed to provide deeper support for the most promising founders, ensuring a closer fit for their product with the market opportunity and the opportunity to raise further capital at ‘Demo day’ where each team pitches to over 200 investors.”

Mark MacLeod-Smith, director of Flux Accelerator and partner in venture capital fund Tuhua Ventures, said:“Flux allows us to get closer to a smaller group of founders, providing more support and increased investment to the best technology startups New Zealand has to offer. The Flux model aligns founders with The Icehouse’s existing investor networks, like ICE Angels who have collectively invested $56m and the recently created $11m Tuhua Fund.”

The Icehouse says a range of mentors have signed on to support the successful startups, offering founders industry-specific, management and capital raising advice. They include:

- Paul Cameron, CEO of Booktrack, developer of technology that lets people add a synchronised movie-style soundtrack to an e-book or other digital text content:

-Claudia Batten, founder of Massive, which provides software and services to dynamically host advertisements within video games, and ad agency Victors and Spoils;

- Tim Williams, founder of advertising technology company ValueClick (now rebranded Conversant) and chairman of video production company 90 Seconds;

- Jason Kerr, founder of cloud-based recruiting software company, Findly and of Spoke, a web service providing information on companies and people.

Kerr, said: “New Zealand has incredible talent and ideas, what is critical however, is turning these ideas into viable companies that scale internationally. Flux offers a pathway for founders to gain market traction and secure their next round of investment.”

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